In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 35):

Lorrain looked a little dubious. "Well, sure. Maps will help eventually. Just not right now.

"So, we picked what looks like a gunnery bay. Not close to the centre but closer to the bow. You didn't want to try for an entry point near the centre, right? More on the periphery?"

She showed them a mapped area. It looked like 20 rows of 6 dual-laser turrets (120 total) surrounded by a fringe of radar dishes for detection and ranging, ladar sensors for locking on to targets and aiming, and other antennae. In the centre of the surface complex was a pair of dual airlock for maintenance.

"I think we can make our entry point here."

Dual airlocks, a large airlock with 2 doors or 2 single airlocks adjacent to each other ??  Blake seeks clarification as he looks the map.  An obvious way in.  Neva, Ken, any experience with trapped airlocks ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 39):

Lucky Jack seemed deeply amused by Blake's comments.

"Ha ha! Did you suffer some brain damage due to a blowout at some point and forget how airlocks work? All airlocks have two doors, one inside and one out. That's what makes them airlocks. They literally won't function otherwise. Unless you mean two outer doors that lead into the same lock chamber. Which would be foolish.

"It looks like there are four airlocks. Two pairs. For redundancy, I guess."

OOC: Sorry for having a little fun at Blake's expense.

"Not that much except when people blow the airlock to get rid of undesirables or get rid of bad gas or whatever.  Can you trap them?  Sure.  I suppose you could put a mine or something somewhere that is triggered when the door opens.  They could also use an IED.  I've known some Belter's that liked to use them.  They are used to do things on the fly and with whatever is on hand."

Neva looked over at "Lucky" when she said Belter and winked, not wanting him to think she was accusing him of doing such a thing...not directly anyway.

Ken nodded to Loraine.  "Nearer the bow is better I think.  It's a bit of a crap shoot but let's make a choice and go for it."  At the mention of booby trapped air locks he shook his head.  "I've dealt with battlefield booby-traps and such but my specialty was not in combat engineering.  All I can say is that we just have one or two people forward to open the air locks in case of trouble."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 41):

He returned the wink with a grin.

"Many belters like to booby-trap their strikes to prevent piracy. I ran a salvage business and  have twelve years experience in disarming these kinds of traps. They can come in a lot of ways.

"They can be wired to the door controls. Oldies but goodies like thermal, IR beam or laser beam sensors. Tripwired and pressure or sensor tape is effective in case someone cuts through the door itself, and can be mechanical or electronic. We probably don't need to worry about most forms of explosives as they become inert over time, and we think it could be thousands of years. But some forms of advanced plastic, crystal and metal-matrix based explosives remain active almost indefinitely, although we doubt the Sky Raiders have that kind of technology. They might have a "laser net", that's within their capability. It both detects and slices intruders in half. Or dices them up. Nasty!

"We can second-guess the entry point from now until the groats come home, I guess. Anything else, Lorrain?"

In reply to 'Lucky Jack' McIntyre (msg # 43):

She looked at the files, then nodded, pointing at some kind of impact crater.

"You know... there is also this. It's an impact point, asteroidal or cometary. Some body seems to have penetrated into one of the shallower void spaces. And it's very recent, just in the last few centuries. Highly unlikely to be booby-trapped.

"It's also relatively close to the bow, of course.

"What do you think? Ken, Neva, Linus, Blake?"

"How far has it penetrated?" asked Linus, bending to look at the chart.

That just became my number one first location.  Do we have any drones and drone pilots onboard ?? 

Clicked too soon.

A drone might set off any proximity type alarms.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 46):

"Good thinking. We do have a survey drone. As well, the cutters can be flown by remote. It would be safer to do that.

"Drone or cutter?"

Cutter to approach within two Km, then the drone goes in for a look.  Blake looks to Neva and Ken with raised eyebrows ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 49):

Neva looked at the map one more time.  "That sounds about right.  It would be safer that way.  If they trip something we should be back far enough that it should be safer.  We'll get in enough problems later on so it doesn't hurt to be a little safer now and then."

Ken nodded, glancing at the data.  "That may be our way in.  With luck the collision cut into some of the existing tunnels.  We can make our way in and then hopefully find an area with atmosphere.  let's do it; cutter and then drone to scout."

Lets suit up then.

Ken nodded.  "It's time to make it happen."  He collected his gear.

Radar and laser mapping of the impact crater indicated it to be around 100m deep.

Before risking a team, a cutter was sent on remote to deploy a probe to explore the bottom. The probe was launched from the cutter's missile rack and matched velocity with the mothership over the crater. Images from the drone indicated metallic wreckage at the bottom of the crater. The probe was able to get within 10m of the bottom and what appeared to be one entry point was visible.

The cutter returned safely to the ship but the probe remained inside the crater to continue mapping it. Once the cutter was berthed, the team got ready to launch.

Ken examined the data feeds carefully.  "I'd say that this is our best bet for entry.  We'll need a portable airlock to hook up to undamaged portions of passageways if there are any pressurized.  We'll bring down our supplies and stage them in the crater. It should be safer there from anyone inside."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 55):

"Yeah! Let's go see what's there!" She left to go start her preflight checks. The cutter had returned safely and was being refueled.

Jack supervised the loading of stores.

Aside from entry equipment and supplies there was a portable airlock, grav transport modules, weapons.

Linus concentrated on ensuring that the party had enough to eat and drink for the trip. He also - recalling Navy days and boarding drills - brought a large axe.

Blake adds a vacc suit, vacc suit repair kit, flashlight, duct tape, inertial locator, rad counter, med scanner, light intensifier goggles, 50 m of line, vid recorder and a crowbar.  Probably the metal, mech, and electronic toolkits too.

Feeling 'Lucky' today Jack ??  You our crew chief for this ride ??  Blake helps with the loading.  Lucky, any chance of finding a couple stun batons ??  Just in case we meet some claim jumpers out here.  Vacc suits probably too clumsy for our usual bullet shooters.

Blake adds some filter masks to their kit.  Comms and a higher powered radio set.  Oh yes, that video recorder trap they set up, Blake pulls the 'tapes' for review during the trip over.  He can scan thru them during the ride over, "testing" the gear at that time.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 59):

He shook his head.

"Whatever we got is what is available. Closest store is three light-years away!

"Using guns isn't a problem in a Vacc Suit, unless it's zero-gee."

They finished loading.

Tape review did not show anyone unexpected going in or out of the cargo bay while the ship was in Jumpspace. Both the purser and cargomaster made visits to check on or retrieve gear or supplies from storage but only a couple times each and not on the same day. Neither carried anything in that was suspicious.

After they came out of Jump, work parties entered to get gear ready for deployment.